FIFA, Commission to discuss football quotas

Officials from FIFA, the international football federation, are to meet Jan Figeľ, the European commissioner for education, culture and sport, and Vladimír Špidla, the commissioner for social affairs and employment, in the next month to discuss the possible introduction of quotas in European football.

FIFA wants to introduce a six-plus-five rule for international club competitions that would dictate that at least six players in the starting 11 should be eligible to play for the national team of the country in which the club is based. There would be no limit on substitutes being foreign, or on the number of foreigners in a squad. The European Commission has argued that such a ruling would be incompatible with EU regulation by discriminating on the basis of nationality and putting a restriction on the free movement of workers within the single European market.

In a report published this week by the Institute for European Affairs (INEA), five law professors argued that the six-plus-five rule does not fall foul of EU law. According to the report, which was commissioned by FIFA, there might be a case to argue ‘indirect discrimination’ because the rule “is not directly based on the nationality of professional players”. A crucial distinction is that “eligibility” does not necessarily mean “nationality”. A player of French nationality who had played in the English league for five years and would qualify for English citizenship would count as a player “eligible to play for the national team” and be part of the six instead of the five, according to the rules that FIFA wants to introduce.

Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, who has long supported the re-introduction of quotas into football, said he was encouraged by the report. “Through six-plus-five we wish to encourage the development of young players, protect national teams and maintain competitiveness and the unpredictability of results. This is why six-plus-five is beneficial to football,” he said.

Quotas in European football were outlawed by a 1995 ruling from the European Court of Justice in the Bosman case. The court declared illegal the system that then existed in many national leagues and in European club competitions, which allowed only three players from another country in the team.

A spokesman for the European Commission expressed doubt that the INEA report would force the EU to change its rules. “How can it be compatible with EU regulation? It still discriminates on the basis of nationality. We will have to take an in-depth look at the report, but we are sceptical after a first glance,” he said. He added that the Commission could offer only advice and that it would be up to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to decide.

The European football federation, UEFA, shares with FIFA a preference for six-plus-five but, according to sources, is unwilling to challenge the existing rules. It is believed that the organisation is unwilling to support FIFA in taking the case to the ECJ, given the time and cost.

The Bosman ruling had a dramatic effect on European football and today up to 56% of the professional players in the European leagues are not eligible to play for the national team of the league in which they play.

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